A blog exploring the intersection of economic thinking and urban planning/real estate development and related big-think themes.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Stimulate what?

In the March 2009, Reason, Sam Staley and Adrian Moore write about "A Better New New Deal ... How can we get the most bang for our transportation buck? Here are six ideas for the new president and cash-strapped governors." (not yet online). The six ideas include congestion pricing and are all perfectly reasonable.

But there is now a stimulus. Who says that governors or mayors want the most bang for the buck? This is not an idle question.

In today's LA Times, columnist Patrick Goldstein writes: "It's no secret that the L.A. public school system is pretty much a disaster -- mismanaged, overcrowded, underfunded, crippled by a bloated bureaucracy ..."

Huh? There are many at the LA Times and beyond who do not see a contradiction. And that says something about government stimulus and where it will go and what it will do.

In today's WSJ, Robert Barro does note that "This is probably the worst bill that has been put forward since the 1930s ..."